Saturday, September 29, 2007

Chuck Jones: "Mrs. Doubtfire"(1993)

It's been a long-standing legend that there was more footage produced of "Pudgie Parakeet", the cartoon that causes Robin Williams' character in "Mrs. Doubtfire" to lose his job. The animation was done by Chuck Jones, and though it's not a complete "short" per se, there IS more to it than what got used. See for yourself!

I have the Doubtfire DVD and there is an interview with Chuck. When director Chris Columbus asked for a Sylvester & Tweety spoof, Chuck was reluctant to spoof his own studios' creations (note how I said "own Studio's creations, in recognition thet S&T were creations of Friz Freleing, not Chuck Jones), and told Columbus he might as well ask Disney to sopoof Mickey Mouse! But Jones, being the willing trooper he is, decided to give it a go in the end.

BTW: The cat's name is "Grunge."

Pudgie (with IE, not to be confused with Betty Boop's dog, Pudgy with Y) is one of my favourite one-shot wonders, luckily I made him my GAC forum avatar!

With a planned "Patch Adams vs. Mrs Doubtfire" crossover coming soon, I wonder if they'll get a chance to get off the "one-shot wonders" list! Obviously, Chuck can't direct this "sequel," but if FOX gets enough convincing, it will happen. If Robin can't repriese his roles, I suggest Rob Paulsen as Pudgie (slightly sped up a bit) and Maurice LaMarche as Grunge!